Music

Rob Thomas is a big Christmas fan, as you might assume from his new holiday album Something About Christmas Time.  But as a kid, he says he “hated” Christmas, not because of the holiday itself, but because of the weather, which wasn’t exactly “Christmassy.”

Rob lived in South Carolina as a small child and then moved to Florida at age 10.

“I mean, I hated it, because I started off in South Carolina where it’s a little more wintery and…you get some snow,” he tells ABC Audio.

“So for years and years, when I was young, we would all go to South Carolina for Christmas, and it always kinda still felt a little Christmassy,” he continues. “But then, when my grandparents passed away and we didn’t really have anybody to go see — just spending Christmas in Florida…people get excited because, you know, you needed a coat. Like, ‘Oh, I need to wear a coat. It feels like Christmas!'”

But since Rob has lived in the New York area for over 20 years, he now gets more snow that he can handle, and says “all my great [Christmas] memories are of New York.” 

Rob says he’d love to be able to celebrate in Manhattan again like he did in the before times: December of 2019.

“It was one of our favorite Christmases of all time,” he tells ABC Audio. “My wife and her mom and I did the full traditional [thing]. We went to the Rockettes and then we went to The Plaza and had a really nice dinner there…and it just felt very ‘New York Christmas,’ for lack of a better term.”

“I would love something like that,” he admits. “I’m just not sure of my [comfort] factor right now, still, just being out and about.”

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Brett Young grew up in a family with plenty of holiday traditions, although some were a little quirkier than the usual traditions of caroling around a tree or decorating cookies.

“For me, there were weird ones,” the singer says. “Every Christmas Eve — my dad was a pastor, and a woman from my dad’s church would make him homemade tamales. Not a Christmas dish, but we would have tamales every Christmas Eve.”

The unusual holiday eating didn’t stop there: “My mom, every Christmas Day, would make homemade chili,” he continues. “Not a Christmas dish, but it was our Christmas thing.”

These days, Brett and his wife, Taylor, celebrate the holidays with their own young family: they’ve got two little girls, Presley and Rowan. The family welcomed baby Rowan this July, so she’ll only be a few months old this Christmas, but Presley — who turned two in October — is starting to understand some of the spirit of the season. That means it’s time to start establishing some new holiday traditions, Brett goes on to say.

“She’s talking, and she’s active, and so I think this is the year where the traditions will start,” he relates. “I think this is the first year where Presley is old enough, where I think things will start locking in and become traditions. And I don’t know what those will be yet, but I’m excited.”

Making this year even merrier is the fact that Brett has a new holiday album out: Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics. It’s a collection of holiday hits, sung by Brett and a host of musical pals.

As an additional pre-Christmas gift to fans, Brett just shared a behind-the-scenes video about the making of that album.

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Following Metallica‘s recent 40th anniversary shows at the San Francisco Chase Center, the venue has released a mini documentary highlighting the community of the band’s international fan base.

The four-minute video, streaming now on YouTube, includes interviews with fans who traveled to S.F. for the concerts from countries including Kuwait, Colombia and Chile.

“[Metallica is] like a soundtrack to my life, and millions and millions of people around the world feel the same way I do,” one fan says.

Metallica’s 40th anniversary shows took place December 17 and 19, and streamed live online. Rebroadcasts of the streams will air via the Coda Collection channel on Amazon Prime Video starting December 24 at noon ET.

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Back in October, Chris Martin told NME that Coldplay will stop making records after putting out their 12th album. Now, he’s put a date on that finish line.

Speaking with BBC Radio 2, Martin reveals that Coldplay’s “last proper record” will be released at the “end of 2025.”

“I think after that, we’ll only tour,” Martin says. “Maybe we’ll do some collaborative things, but the Coldplay catalog, as it were, finishes then.”

When host Jo Whiley asked if Martin was joking, he assured her he was not.

Coldplay just released their ninth album, Music of the Spheres, this past October. It includes the single “Higher Power” and the hit BTS collaboration “My Universe.”

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The 44th annual Kennedy Center Honors special airs tonight on CBS, featuring star-studded tributes to Joni Mitchell, Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. and Bette Midler, as well as Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels and opera baritone Justino Diaz.

Among the performers and presenters who took part in the gala, which was held December 5 in Washington, D.C., were Paul Simon, Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder and many more.

Nash was featured as the narrator of a video presentation celebrating Mitchell, who was his one-time romantic partner. Among the performers who paid tribute to the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter were Herbie Hancock, Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard, Norah Jones, Brandi Carlile and Ellie Goulding.

Simon, a close friend of Michaels, performed his classic Simon & Garfunkel tune “America” in honor of Lorne. The segment also featured tributes from Steve Martin and various former and current SNL cast members, including Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Seth Meyers, Kevin Nealon, Pete Davidson, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Michael Che and Colin Jost.

The event’s finale featured a salute to Gordy, which included musical tributes from Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

The Kennedy Center Honors special airs at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on CBS.

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Saweetie and Jack Harlow will be ringing in 2022 on a New Year’s Eve television special.

The rappers will perform on Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, hosted by Miley Cyrus and Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson, which airs December 31 at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC. 24kGoldn and Kitty Ca$h will also add hip hop flava to the show.

Meanwhile, Saweetie, who graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in business in 2016, is headed back to USC in 2022, this time as a guest lecturer. The “Icy Grl” rapper, who is nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist, will teach two separate courses for students pursuing entrepreneurial studies. She will also speak to high school students during USC’s summer programs.

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Many fans have given or received Josh Groban‘s holiday album Noël as a Christmas gift, but as a kid, he says he had to work hard to get his parents to finally agree to get him his dream Christmas present.

“I lobbied for about four years for a drum set,” Josh said Wednesday on Live with Kelly & Ryan.  Josh explained that it was a “big ask from Santa” because it’s such a noisy gift — but he was so determined to get it that he actually wrote an essay explaining why he should receive it.

“I wrote an essay [to Santa]…single spaced…about how every drum has its own story, every cymbal told a story, and how I would treasure it every day, and finally, I got the drum set,” Josh says.  His neighbors were even cool with him practicing an hour a day.

“It changed my life,” Josh said of his drum set, which he played for 20 years before finally donating it to his old music school this year. Today, as a global star, he plays drums in his show, and he notes, “Whenever I play them in an arena or something, I think back to that kid.”

“Any parent who’s thinking of a gift…they’re not sure what they wanna get their kids — you can never go wrong with an instrument,” Josh advises. “Because you never know when that light bulb’s gonna go off and they’re gonna figure it out.”

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Mariah Carey has finally given a much-needed makeover to the weird-looking Christmas ornament that famously annoyed her last year.

The ornament — which was supposed to look like Mariah but most certainly did not — hit Mariah’s radar after a fan showed off the sketchy new decoration on Twitter. The singer hilariously replied, “This is… Not approved” and gently added, “But it’s the thought that counts.”

Now, fans can finally hang an authorized Mariah Christmas ornament on their Christmas tree.  Sharing a side-by-side comparison of the knockoff versus the real deal, the “Fantasy” singer declared on Twitter, “Fixed it!”  

The new Mariah-approved ornament, which depicts cartoon Mariah dressed in a sexy Santa outfit, retails for $19.99 and is available at Target, along with the singer’s entire line of Christmas goodies, such as wrapping paper, Christmas stockings and more.  The items are also available on Mariah’s official online store.

Fixed it! pic.twitter.com/8RTzDJfEM9

— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 21, 2021

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Luke Bryan’s household is at it again, with their annual tradition of the 12 Days of Pranksmas ramping up like never before.

The holiday tradition finds Luke, his wife Caroline, his mom LeClaire and the rest of the family taking turns pulling pranks on each other during the holiday season. No one — not even the kids — is safe during Pranksmas, as evidenced by a hilarious new compilation video the singer’s wife shared on Wednesday.

“Hope these add a little razzle dazzle to your day!” wrote Caroline, alongside a montage of some of the most epic pranks that have been pulled so far. The country superstar himself shakes a port-a-potty (while it’s in use!), and wishes his wife a gloating “Happy Pranksmas!” after he pulls a prank on her during a ski trip.

This year, Pranksmas is getting an extra boost, as Caroline launched a contest in partnership for her Best Bad Influence clothing line. Fans are invited to submit their best pranks, and the Bryan family will choose the 10 best. Winners will receive a $200 Visa gift card.

The deadline to submit a prank is this Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. Five winners will be announced on December 23, and five more on December 24.

 

 

 

 

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